I love UB in the Springtiiiiiimmme, I love UB in the Faaaallll.

Like the rest of the northern hemisphere, it's Springtime here in UB! It's a lot like Spring in North Texas with a few differences:

1. It is both cold enough and WARM enough to snow in April 
2. We have both rain showers and dust storms - a teammate said that a few years ago, this happened at the same time and it was literally "raining" mud
3. Because it's way too cold during the winter months, now is the time to redo the pavements, repaint buildings and fences, dig up all the pipes and re-wrap them and wash off everything else
4. People are getting puppies so they can train them while the weather is nice during the summer
5. The heat is regulated by the government and won't be officially turned off for all of UB for another week - not a problem for cold nights but not too nice for warm days
6. Not too many buildings (including most of the apartments I've been to) have air conditioning - I can't imagine what we Texans would do without our a/c! And for the record, it can get just as hot in UB as it can in Texas...

The picture above and to the left is what I usually see out of my apt. window.
Compare to the picture above and to the right - it was a snow storm in April! The above picture was taken on that day too - notice the boys having a snowball fight while the man is trying to "shovel" snow with a what looks like a door...quite effectively!

Other than those differences that I've noticed so far, they are doing much of the same things we do back in the States. Seniors are preparing to graduate, families are making plans to vacation in their summer homes (many people have small little homes out in the countryside - Mongolians LOVE the countryside!!), kids are breaking out their bikes/rollerblades/scooters/jump ropes, windows are being cleaned, and people are busting out their summer clothes and soaking up the sun. 

The playground in my apartment has had children playing every night until it gets dark which is about 8:30pm at this point. Girls giggling, boys riding bikes, dogs chasing balls and new mothers chatting - some things are universal.

I cleaned our windows with half a roll of paper towels and half a bottle of window cleaner. Surprisingly, the INSIDES of the windows were much more filthy than the outsides.

We had a day where the major roads were closed and people were LOVING walking (or rollerblading) in the streets!

We teachers are concentrating on helping our students prepare for finals and making plans to go home for the summer. Over the next month and a half, we will all be leaving one by one and have been discussing the things we've missed. "What are you going to eat first? What will you get at the first StarBucks you see? I'll get to see that movie at my favorite movie theater, __________", etc. I've told friends that one of the first things I want to do is go to Target and just stand around - surrounded by all the brands I know, all the item descriptions in English, anything I could want in the same building. I know, it sounds silly.

I don't know, I just liked this picture of cows taking it easy.

Anywho, here's to Spring! New life, warm weather, vitamin D, grass and flowers blooming, new puppies, summer plans, graduations, fresh paint, and summer movies!